From train to car

Today name any brand of automobile and you can buy it off the dealer8217;s shelf, But it wasn8217;t always like that. Fifty years ago...

Today name any brand of automobile and you can buy it off the dealer8217;s shelf, But it wasn8217;t always like that. Fifty years ago, the choice was limited to just two or three brands 8212; the Ambassador, the Baby Hindustan and Padmini, each with a long waiting list. These cars cost between Rs10,000 and 12,000 and seemed a distant dream.

For my husband and me, having entered service only a few years earlier on modest salaries, this was only of academic interest. The thought of acquiring a car hardly ever entered our minds. The unexpected then happened. On a train journey from Delhi to Lucknow, way back in 1954, I found myself travelling with a grand old man with shining silver-grey hair. A host of people attended on him. I discreetly inquired who he was and was told that he was Sir L.P. Misra, chairman of Hindustan Motors.

Shortly after the train started, we introduced ourselves. As our conversation progressed, the grand old man, having figured out that I was travelling by myself, asked me if on arrival at Lucknow the next morning there would be a 8216;sawaari8217; waiting for me. Hesitant to own up that we didn8217;t have a car, I tried to feign that we had given up the idea to acquire one because of the long waiting lists. At this, I faintly recall him muttering, 8220;Don8217;t worry, I can fix that.8221;

When our train arrived at Lucknow the next morning, there was a crowd to receive him. My husband, who had come for me, waited in a corner. As he came out of the compartment, L.P. Misra figured out that the solitary gent was my husband and promptly beckoned him. As my husband approached warily, he said,8221;Don8217;t worry, you will soon have a car.8221;

My husband looked stunned. Meanwhile, the Misra whispered something into the ears of a brown-suited gentleman. Before we dispersed, I recall the man walk up to us and say that he would have the car delivered in three days.

Flabbergasted we were, but we needed to arrange for the funds 8212;

Rs 10,000 was a princely sum for the likes of us. In actual fact, the car arrived in two days: a shiny black Baby Hindustan driven to our house, complete with registration papers and insurance cover. That was our first car.